Since Angorod had pked the matriarch it has been close to 4 days. To be precise it was currently shortly after dusk broke over the land and tomorrow the time would come she would revive.
He fought his way along numerous wolfs and even a low leveld bear or 2 as he had a few hundred pelts in his backpack now. Angorod was surprised at how much could fit in that back pack at first but then he realized once again he was in a game.
As the laws of physics didn't apply here even with his new achieved strength and other stats greatly increased his combat ability and weight carrying capacity. While smiling about all that he gained from surviving in the woods for a few days he spoke a command word.
" Character Window. "
[quart=Health,Stamina]960,210[/quart]
[quart=Nourishment,???]100,????[/quart]
[quart=Health / sec,Stamina/ sec]9.6,2.1[/quart][quart=Strength,Dexterity]38,18[/quart]
[quart=Vitality,Charisma]40,11[/quart]
[quart=Will-power,Endurance]23,25[/quart]
[quart=Affinity to blood,Speed]18,21[/quart]
[quart=Name,Race]Angorod,Wraithling[/quart]
[quart=House,Alignment]none,neutral[/quart]
[quart=Patron,Title]none,none[/quart]
[quart=Level,Infamy]7,140[/quart]
Class
???? (Rank H)
He eyed his progress with delight and felt he wasn't overly strong besides his Health stat at least. He was also happy that he managed to increase the speed and strength stat very far , as tomorrow around his time he would be heavily weighed down.
After all he had not forgotten about the Matriarch he killed. Also the other players he killed in the forest would revive one after another after her. Not that he was worried with the broken Health stat or the rest of his increases , since also his skills leveld up quite a bit.
But what he was worried about were not the players but the ' raid ' that would be formed to kill a single guy after the first group died , again. Now after his 3 days in the forest he had increased the victim count of his ' killing spree ' to 12.
After the group of 4 had fallen prey to him he picked up some wounded players that just fought a wolf alone. Normally larger groups he evaded. Especially since more then 5 groups of each 5 people came close to Angorods ' hunting grounds'.
He would have loved to kill them , after all it gave extra stats and also pelts or furs he could use to gain more money. But he didn't only kill players because of that. He also needed food so he hunted them for their supplys of bread or dried meat.
But now as he was still walking along the road to complete the quest he found 2 players hunting some foxes during the night. He listend closely to his surroundings and heard a few more people fighting to the left and right , but they were far enough away so he could go back to his work.
He set down his backpack untied the two axes and gripped them tightly while running towards the unsuspecting players. His dark skinned color combined with the clouded night that covered up most of the moonlight made for the perfect opportunity.
Angorod closed the distance fast thanks to his leveled up speed stat and before they even knew what happend one disappeared in grey particles. The second of the group looked horrified as he saw 2 axes with their blades crossed where his friends neck was seconds ago.
But then he looked up to see the perpetrator only to find a wicked cruel smile and a pair of violet eyes glaring back at him.
" WAHHHHHH!!! " The boy voiced his fear and ran away.
Angorod just clicked his tongue , after all now he needed to walk a further distance to loot the corpse , and dropped one of his weapons just to throw a hatchet that was attached to his belt seconds ago.
A wet sound was audiable as it forcebly entered the players lower back and seconds later he kissed the ground. Angorod walked slowly while reading his other 2 handed axe. Since he was a prideful gamer he swung one axe high into the air and chopped the other guys head of with ease.
Now he had acquired even more food and pelts and furs then before as well as a few copper coins and Angorod almost began to hum a tune while walking of to the next unsuspecting group a little further down the way.
By the time he was done rounding up all the lowly newbies that farmed foxes or rabbits , collecting the furs they acquired , looting their supplys and gathering all the coin purses Angorod was close to being overloaded and the sun had just begun to set.
Walking now even drained his stamina slightly and he almost fell over a few times as he leisurly greeted some guards along the way.
' God i love this system. ' Angorod thought while casually greeting the guards.
He arrived at the market place where he got the quest from and the leather armor vendor was just setting up his stall. Angorod lifted his hand and greeted the man which seemed to not recognize him.
" Hey there i came to deliver the pelts and furs you needed from me 3 days ago. " Angorod said.
The vendor still eyed him suspiciously so Angorod just dropped his heavy back pack and flexed his shoulder joints.
" Yeah i remember something like that ... so how much pelts you have? " The vendor said.
Angorod opend his backpack and started to take them out.
10 minutes later Angorod was still taking out more and more pelts from the never ending hole called his backpack.
" 101 Wolf pelts , 212 Fox pelts and 419 rabbits pelts .... " The vendor was speechless at the sheer amount Angorod had brought back.
He certainly didn't want to know how he acquired this large bulk but he had to give him the money as promised.
" For the wolf pelts ill give you 1 gold coin , for the smaller fox pelts i can offer 74 silver and for the rabbits 41 Silver. Totalling to 2 gold and 15 silver. " The vendor pressed out between clenched teeth.
Now Angorod was smiling a huge smile and thanked the vendor vehemently while a window appeared.
Quest has been greatly overachieved.
Market price for the pelts 1 gold 90.
For greatly overachieving he gave you 25 silvers extra.
After this was done Angorod headed towards another vendor and sold all the wolfs , fox or rabbit meat he had acquired and gained another 50 silver from it. Right besides this stall was a food vendor so he bought 3 weeks supply worth of bread , dried meat and some butter in a jar before he left the market district.
" Hmm only got 1 gold and 50 silver left ...." Angorod spoke out his thoughts.
But as it was early morning and not alot of people ' playing ' at the moment he had no need to worry about somebody ' casually ' overhearing him. Angorod knew he had little time left , at best 6 hours , before the matriarch would respawn so he had to get out of here on the double.
" Hello , sir. Can you tell me about any interesting hunting grounds along the way to the town of Matri? " Angorod asked a nearby guard.
From a map he found displayed he knew there was a town to the west of here called Matri and he just wanted a bit more knowledge about the surrounding area. First , like every NPC he talked to , they eyed him suspiciously before they spoke.
" Nah there just some bears and wolfs sometimes raiding the trade route to there. Some merchants been complaining if you wanna find out more talk to them they should be leaving in half an hour from the west gate. " The guards said in a very british like accent.
Angorod thanked him and headed , with light footsteps , to the west gate where he found 2 horse carts ready and waiting for departure. He quickly looked around but found no overly expensive dressed human that could be the ' merchant master ' of this ' caravan ' .
" Hello , heard you are going to Matri. " Angorod shouted out so everyone in the vicinity could hear him.
From on top of the wagons a little female jumped out and due to her size as well as the ears Angorod thought of a hafling.
" Im Melinda , halfing Merchant and leader of this trade route , you are? " She asked with a delighted tone.
" Im Angorod , Wraithling Adventurer and maybe your bodyguard for the trip? " Angorod said while smiling immensly.
But at the word Wraithling the halfing eyed him with suspicion in her eyes. She even looked him deep into the eyes before finally speaking her mind.
" No thank you , i won't accept a Wraithling. Good bye. " She said and jumped back onto the wagon.
Which in itself was a considerable feat due to her maybe 1 meter in height. But somehow Angorod already suspected the exclusion of Wraithlings. After all everybody eyed him with suspicion.
He just shrugged his shoulders as he knew it was a lost cause and set out through the western gate by himself.
................
Along the way he encountered only some easy wolfs and 2 more bears. But he knew this would change soon. Angorod was fully aware that the matriarch could spawn any minute now and he also knew that then the easy wolfs and bears would become extremly hard.
With his thoughts filled with unease he kept on walking and soon the caravan , that he originally wanted to join , overtook him. As both wagons passed him the halfling gave him a critizing look but in the end she didn't hold or let him aboard.
By foot this march would take about 12 hours and he wanted to complete it today , so at least he could start leveling tomorrow. But an hour after the caravan had passed him , he knew he would not see Matri.
The caravans that had passed him were deserted and partly destroyed. All wares gone , as he was scavenging the remains , and not a living soul left. Neither were there any dead bodys which made Angorod wonder. But soon he found out the reason why.
* tring*
A quest has appeared.
The halfing and her caravan members have been captured by a ragtag bunch of bandits. Most likely they want to enslave the poor souls and sell them of. Footprints leading into the northern woods indicicate their camp should be close. You need to free the poor souls , extra rewards may await in Matri if you eliminate the Bandits.
Reward: Money , equipment
Failure: None as you are a Wraithling
There was a yes and a no button hovering in-front of Angorod and he considering pressing no to decline the quest , but something about the extra reward picked his interest. He could not exactly explain what it was but it just rubbed him in the right way.
You have accepted the quest
As long as he still had his complete strength and speed he would use it to its fullest , were Angorods intentions , so he ran straight north into the forest. Along the way he found broken twigs and heavy footprints without even having to look for them.
Soon , even though the crown of leaves blocked his view slightly , he saw burning black smoke that definetly was produced from a burning fire in the distance. Angorod slowed down his pace , especailly as his Stamina was almost completly gone , and leisurly walked towards its source.
There he saw 5 humans around the fire and judging by the sound that came from the shabby shack behind them there was at least 1 more. No signs of the halfling or her companions or their wares. But as soon as he heard a high-pitched female scream , he knew something was clearly wrong.
With trained movements he put down his backpack reached inside and bit hard into 10 pieces of dried meat at the same time. He watched his nourishment reach the full mark(100) , but there it didn't stop. As it reached 130 and slowed down a Window appeared and he thanked his time in the Wraithling caves for this at the moment.
* tring*
Your skill has reached new heights.
Glutton rank 3 0%
While you have more then 100 nourishment you will gain increased health , defense and dmg.
Dmg increases by 13%
Health increases by 13%
Defense increases by 10%
Angorod placed both axes at a nearby tree and walked into the clearing with his hands gripping 2 of his 4 hatchets. As he came closer to the bandits he saw 1 had a bow and the others had to be warriors. Now he raised his right arm slightly above his head and let loose the hatchet. Without confirming if it hit its target the second one already aimed in on the Archer and the third.
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You have dealt 40 dmg with your hatchet
You have dealt 60 dmg with your hatchet
You have dealt 40 dmg with your hatchet
The archer has died. +1 strength
Now a tumult broke out as they saw the Archer slumping forward with 3 hatchets sticking out of his back. All of them grabbed their weapons and soon spotted Angorod who was already fleeing back into the forest.
With battlecrys and shouts they followed him. But as the slowest one of them entered the line of trees a person came charging from the side. The warrior with a buckler and a sword held the pointy tip outstretched and Angorod very well knew he would get pierced in a second.
But he also knew his Dexterity was pretty low so there was no real chance of him evading such a quick thrust , but there were other means. With still 10 meters between them Angorod threw one of his 2 handed axes and with a ringing sound the warriors buckler shattered in his hands.
Nonetheless the Warrior was still holding his Sword aimed in on Angorods advance and the distance was only 4 meteres now. Angorod saw his opponents muscles tense ready to lash out any second but again he did something unexpected. Just as his opponent let loose his thrust aiming for the head Angorod dropped to his feet.
But not with his knees , with his left leg outstretched and the right knee on the ground he slid along the earthy ground and started to hack at the warriors legs. A second later the bandit disappeared in a shower of blood and gray particles.
* tring*
Bandit slain. + 1 Affinity to blood
He picked up his second axe but as he wanted to storm back into the clearing 3 warriors with different weapons blocked his way. Angorod sighed but gripped down on his weapons hardly as he charged silently.
You have received 60 dmg
A window told him as he had no chance to evade the quick sword thrust , but now he was already ontop of his oppenent. He slashed right , then hacked from left and as a finisher he swung his left and right axe at the opposite sides of his neck and with another * tring* Angorod smiled skillfully.
Due to your constant use of only 1 part of a 3 pronged skill it has changed its propertys.
Double strike rank 3 (H rank skill) -> Decapitation strike rank 1 (B rank skill)
Increases dmg by 60 % when striking at the neck or head of an enemy with an axe
Increases chance of decapitation of Enemy by 10% ( Only works on lower leveled mobs)
Cost 15 Stamina
Sadly enough Angorod didn't receive extra attributes or stats when fighting monsters or enemys , the only surefire way was to pk , but his skills leveled up quite fast because of it. But as Angorod was distracted by his new skill for a few seconds he took 4 attacks to his back.
' Well i still have 85 % life left ... ' Angorod thought amused at his broken Hp.
Now he turned around and hacked at both of them simulteinously , one with the left 2 handed axe and the other with the right. After a few seconds he realized this would take to long so he concentrated on one as the other stabbed his back.
But as Angorods health resource was so high he only slightly noticed the drop in his hp. Even though the body was still ' warm ' as it disappeared in a grey light in-front of Angorod he already turned around and used both weapons to slice at the opponents neck.
Both weapons found their way into the surprised enemys neck and just cleaved of the skull. Angorod was following the head that was arching through the air as it started to turn into gray particles.
But he snapped out of it sooner then later and ran back into the clearing. With both axes gripped tightly he ran the whole distance and his stamina was only at half when he entered. One person in black robes had placed his knees on the ground in-front of one of the 3 females that were chained to the walls.
Calmly assesing the situation Angorod lifted his axes and executed perfect swing to the opposite sides of the mage. But instead of getting the feeling of flesh being split it felt like a woobly mass and he figure disappeared into smoke.
You have received 250 damage from the Bandit leader
He felt a sharp pain from his back so Angorod turned around. The mage was saying strange words and repeated a sequence of motions with his hands , but Angorod knew how to handle this.
Lifting his weapons overhead he aimed carefully and slashed them down on the spot. But mid swing he let go of the weapons and they closed the distance quickly. But as all mage's were they concentrated on their task so he didn't see the impending doom.
A new skill has been created
Shattering throw rank 1 (D rank skill)
Increases your weapons dmg by 500% , only applies to axes of any kind.
Other effects that increase dmg is applied after the 500% increase
Current dmg: 70-85 + 12% ( Axe mastery) + 10% ( Glutton)
Costs 25 Stamina
A series of 5 magical bolts were released from the mage just before the axes pierced into each of his shoulders and he disappeared into grey particles. But even though the effects origin was dead the magical bolts weren't.
Angorod knew that the same spell , but with a minor magnitude , had hit him before that caused 250 dmg. He expected to receive 1250 dmg from all 5 so with no weapons in his hands he had no chance as to do one thing.
Quickly he hid behind the shacks walls and he heard loud * thumbs* as the magical bolts assaulted the make-shift walls but they held. Angorod breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he turned around to the 3 females on the floor behind him.
One of them had her garments , of any kind , ripped beyond recognition and Angorod felt relieved as he saw her eyes. Lifeless eyes that already had seen the last of this world. Not that he wanted anybody to be treated this way but it was better to be dead then to endure the shame and repulsion from a event like this.
As Angorod skimmed over the next person he saw pantys of the female being brought to her knees but not farther down. That was most likely what Angorod had interrupted the mage in. Since he had no key for the shackles at their feet he crouched before them.
Both females errupted in a screaming shout of terror as he almost used the same position the Bandit leader had before him but he simply ignored their crying. With quick movements he unfastend the hatchet , the only weapon , he had left from his belt and started to smash it into a rusty looking link in the chains.
After 10 minutes he had undone both chains on her legs. Another 10 minutes later her hands were also able to move , but the shackles were still in place. He then turned to the third female which coincidentally was the halfling he had seen before.
She eyed him suspiciously as he started to get rid of her chains but said nothing. But instead he spoke to the other female that was still sobbing.
" Go outside. Maybe the leader dropped a key or something. " He ordered her.
At first she hesitantly started to move on her knees to crawl forward but Angorod was anoyed by this behaviour.
" By the gods , start walking! " He roared at her.
In return she shrieked but stood up as she fled out of the make-shift hut. She even fell a few times as she forgot to pull her pantys back up and Angorod just shook his head.
" Thank you for your help. " The hafling said in a feeble voice.
Angorod on the other hand just grunted and started to beat on the chains even harder. He didn't want anybody , himself or the 2 females , to be in this place any longer. After all he was about to throw up himself and only his Iron will was preventing this so far.
Will-power has increased by 4 permanently
But luckily this window that popped up as he was about to turn his stomache inside out , prevented further discrepancys. Even after 20 minutes the girl still hadn't returned but now the hafling was free.
Just as the last chain cracked under the heavy blows his hatchet dissolved into gray particles that floated to the ceiling. He watched them with a pang of regret but it was a small price to pay to get out of the shack faster.
The hafling rubbed her arms and legs as she shivered , not because of the cold , but because of the dread she felt inside of this place which Angorod also felt. Both of them went outside after the halfing had rearranged her clothing to properly hide her legs beneath the dress.
As Angorod stepped outside of the hut he saw the other girl struggling with one of his axes that lay in the field where he killed the mage. She was barely able to maintain its lifted position and was not in the slightest capable of wielding it properly.
But Angorod didn't laugh. He unfastend his belt at the front and took of another pouch he kept there. He ripped of a piece of his linen pants and lay it on the ground while spilling the pouches contents over it.
It were 2 cinder stones to create sparks and a small sealed leather vial with a few drops of oil inside. He just poured the vials contents over the cloth , even though it was way to much , and slammed the 2 stones together.
The little piece of cloth instantly caught fire so he threw it into the make-shift hut that was filled with straw. He watched for over an hour at its burning state before he turned around , surprised to find the girl and the halfing still there.
As the halfling noticed this she walked close enough to Angorod so she could whisper in his ears , without the human girl overlistening what they were saying.
" Please , spare the girl... You can have me instead. " She said with a bitter tone and Angorod saw the determination inside her eyes to accept anything he wanted to do with her.
Angorod who was still crouching was dumbfounded for a few seconds but stood up regardless. With determined foot steps he walked over to the Girl that was still trying to lift his axe and grabbed the weapon from her.
As he picked up the coinpurse the mage had dropped he also took his other axe and walked back into the forest leaving the 2 females alone. As soon as he entered the cover of the leaves he immediatly threw up.
* tring*
Glutton buff has ended
Angorod was close to his backpack and he needed water to wash out the foul taste , not the puke had left behind but the gruesome scene he had witnesses. Because his hands were shaking to much he almost ripped the leather backpack apart that was tied with leather straps.
But instead he just used the throwing knife in his boot to cut open the straps he originally had to untie , while doing so he permanently damaged the backpack , to reach the water canteen.
For 1 hour he sat kneeled on the floor toggling between emptying his stomache and using the water to wash out his mouth but during this time a sharp burning pain assaulted his forearms and wrists. Absentmindly he registered that the curse in the form of chains had activated.
* tring*
Due to the curse of the matriarch you have your strength and speed decreased by 50%
The pain soon became a pleasent sensation as it made him loose concentration at the horrible scene he had just witnessed. So he stood up and entered the clearing again and watched the make-shift shack collapse in itself.
" I gave her the vengance the poor soul needed to move on. The fire gave her a proper burial and burned down the place of your grief. " Angorod said to the 2 females that were still watching.
Both of them turned towards him with eyes open in surprise at his short speech. They were literally to awe-struck to talk and the halfling just opened and closed her mouth repeatedly.
" Come with me , i will bring you back to the road and protect you until the night is over. " Angorod told them with a serious tone.